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Comments for Blood Rites

Blood Rites: 11/20/14

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher is the sixth of the Dresden Files books. Dresden has a new job, going under cover at a porn studio. Someone or something is killing off the cast in violent ways.

So here's the thing, like many detective mysteries, it's expected that the novel will have a number of twists and turns, false leads, and red herrings. If the trail of clues isn't blatantly obvious, then the book will require concentration. Though these are also urban fantasies, Butcher's books require from me, more concentration than say Diane Mott Davidson's catering series. It's not that one is better written than the other, it's more a matter of clicking better with the characters, I think.

Anyway, I started reading Blood Rites just before I started a very intense, full time, but short term library inventory job. Between the commute time, the hours on the job, and other responsibilities, my days were twelve or thirteen hours long. I was coming home too exhausted to read for enjoyment. While I enjoyed (and tore through) the first third of the book, the next third passed by my eyes in a disjointed haze. Then the job was over (well done, efficiently executed) and I was able to finish the book with the same enthusiasm as I had started it.

BUT, with the middle blurred, I can't just blindly give it a top rating. Or even a very sensible review. The porn industry with supernatural creatures is certainly a natural blending of the two genres but it's a part of society that's completely off my usual radar (the only porn I've watched, I watched in film school).

My problem with the porn, isn't one of Puritan shame. Instead, it's a reaction to Dresden's discomfort. In previous books, he's constantly distracted by the female form — often distastefully so. It's hard to believe that someone so easily distracted would be unaware of the porn industry. Can't you see Dresden and Bob flipping through at least some magazines together? Or maybe that's just me.